Danica, Raissa RP’s twinkling little stars

Gymnastics has been one of the country’s consistent medal haulers in the Southeast Asian Games and with rigid one-month training in China and two weeks in Los Angeles, the RP team hopes to bolster its gold medal chances.

Two of the country’s graceful young talents expected to shine in the SEAG gymnastics competitions are Danica Calapatan and Kristine Raissa Saguisag following their impressive feats in international competitions in India, Singapore and Malaysia last September.

Calapatan, a 12-year-old student of Lyceo de Piccolo Santo in Muntinlupa and the youngest in the RP contingent, is the country’s top-ranked athlete in rhythmic gymnastics. At her tender age, she has absorbed the discipline and philosophy of the sport and learned to handle pressure even to the point of giving up the pleasures of childhood.

Last September Calapatan bagged the rhythmic gymnastics bronze in the Southeast Asian Gymnastics Confederation (SEAGCON) championship in Malaysia.

"I love gymnastics. Instead of playing, I just take a rest after practice," said Calapatan. "The only leisure I have is going to the mall and the whole team just does that almost every Saturday."

Admittedly, her favorite is the club competition among the four events in rhythmic gymnastics. Though she’s the No. 1 bet, Danica doesn’t want to make promises.

"I learned to live with pressure. But I don’t want to pressure myself by making promises. What I can promise is I’ll do my best in the name of the Philippine flag," Danica replied.

"This is my first SEA Games stint. Our training in China and Los Angeles helped a lot in preparing us physically and mentally. I became more confident, my coach (Genevieve Ty) said. She said I improved a lot."

"Well, I’ll do my best for the gold. I had a feel of the opposition in the SEAGCON championship, I’m not promising anything but I think we can win it," she added.

Her coach believes in her chances. "She has learned to concentrate better on her game. Well, there’s still the factor of luck. It sometimes happens that competitors doing well in the first three events lose in the ribbon competition. The ribbon competition is the crucial event," said Ty.

If Danica is the more serious type, Kristine Raissa Saguisag is more of the jolly type.

Saguisag, 14-year-old daughter of former Senator Rene Saguisag, is currently No. 4 in the ranking but the best in the vault competition.

Last September, she bagged two golds and a silver in the India Cup and likewise grabbed the bronze in Singapore just before they went into training.

Fondly called "Batas" because of her father, Kristine Raissa is just as amiable as her dad. Her teammates break down in giggles when she does antics to ease pressure-packed situations.

"Well, probably I’m a natural comedienne that’s why they laugh a lot specially when everybody’s under pressure. But in the competition, I’m a serious player," said Saguisag, who admitted her real dream is to be a renowned dancer.

"I’m more focused now, more mature unlike when I first competed in the Vietnam SEA Games. I hope to do much better in this SEA Games because my goal is to make it to the 2008 Beijing Olympics," she added.